IPhone 7
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They were announced on September 7, 2016, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco by Apple CEO Tim Cook, and released on September 16, 2016, succeeding the iPhone 6S as the current flagship devices in the iPhone series. The iPhone 7 features a new quad-core system-on-chip with improved system and graphics performance; an updated display screen; water resistance; stereo speakers; upgraded cameras, and a new dual-camera system on the 7 Plus model. The 3.5mm headphone jack was removed, but Apple included an adapter, along with earphones that connect to the Lightning port as an alternative. It ships with iOS 10 pre-installed. Specifications iPhone 7 is similar in design to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S, though with a "mirrored" finish. Alongside the existing Silver, Gold, and Rose Gold colors, the device is offered in new Black and "Jet Black" colors. The "Jet Black" color is a darker shade with a high-gloss finish; it is created through a multi-step process, beginning with an anodization phase to make the surface of the casing a porous aluminum oxide, and then using a machine to "wipe" the casing through a powdered compound, absorbed by aluminum oxide. The process is concluded with an "ultra-fine particle bath" for additional finishing; the entire process takes less than an hour. The Jet Black is a speciality as it only have 128GB and 256GB versions, and it originally does not have a stock. iPhone 7 no longer uses a physical home button, and instead it uses a touch-sensitive button with haptic feedback via Apple Taptic Engine. The button is also pressure-sensitive. The "3D Touch" system from 6S was retained. But the new home button requires skin contact to activate, so it is not possible to use it with gloves. iPhone 7 does not feature a 3.5mm headphone jack; it was replaced by a second speaker grille that contains the phone's new Taptic Engine vibration feedback system. A Lightning-to-3.5mm connector adapter, as well as in-ear headphones that use a Lightning connector, are bundled with the device. The Lightning adapter is also sold independently. iPhone 7 is also water- and dust-resistant. iPhone 7 uses the Apple A10 Fusion system-on-chip, which consists of two low-power cores and two high-power cores. The A10 chip also features a hexa-core graphics chip capable of "console-level gaming". As with prior models, iPhone 7 is available in two sizes: one with a 4.7-inch screen, and a "Plus" variant with a 5.5-inch screen. The displays have identical sizes and resolutions to 6'' and ''6S, but with an increased color gamut and brightness. Both device variants also contain a new iteration of Apple's motion coprocessor, the M10. Unlike previous iPhone models, internal storage options for iPhone 7 begin at 32 GB instead of 16 GB. iPhone 7 Plus has 3 GB of RAM, more than any other iPhone to date, but the smaller, 4.7-inch iPhone 7 has only 2 GB. iPhone 7 includes a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with a quad-LED "True Tone" flash; its aperture was widened to f/1.8, and the standard-size phone model adds optical image stabilization — a feature that was previously exclusive to Plus models. iPhone 7 Plus includes a second 12-megapixel telephoto lens, which can be used to achieve 2x optical zoom, and up to 10x digital zoom. The front-facing camera on both versions was upgraded to a 7-megapixel sensor. Accessories A Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter is sold by Apple as an accessory as well as being included with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Apple also unveiled several Bluetooth wireless headphones ostensibly intended for use with iPhone 7, including AirPods wireless in-ear headphones, and three new Beats headphone products. All four products utilize an in-house wireless chip known as Apple W1, which is designed to provide low-power Bluetooth operation and integration with iOS and macOS products (though they are still compatible with other Bluetooth-supported devices). Reception Pre-release Criticism of the iPhone 7 prior to its launch centered around the removal of the headphone jack, including the theoretical inability to use wired headphones with the included adapter and charge the device simultaneously (although following the launch, Belkin announced an Apple-certified hub accessory that contains a headphone jack and a Lightning pass-through for charging), and the inconvenience of having to carry around an adapter for what is purely a mobile device, diminishing its utility. In particular, Apple's vice president Phillip Schiller, who announced the change, was mocked extensively online for stating that removing the headphone jack took 'courage'. An online petition created by the consumer group SumOfUs that accuses Apple of planned obsolescence and causing substantial electronic waste by removing the headphone jack reached over 300,000 signatures. Post-release The Verge gave the iPhone 7 a 9 out of 10, praising the improved camera, water resistance, better battery life, and the touch-sensitive area that simulates the feel of a physical button, but did not like the lack of headphone jack, that the jet black version scratches easily, that wireless audio devices are immature and the need to use a dongle for using traditional headphones. The German computer magazine c't compared the audio interface of the iPhone 6 and iPad with the lighning adapter of the iPhone 7. The dynamic was by 4.5 db(A) lower, and that got only a "sufficient" rating. Sales Apple has deliberately withheld pre-order sales numbers, citing that these are "no longer a representative metric for our investors and customers". On September 15, 2016, one day before the iPhone 7 went on sale, Apple announced that due to high demand, they have sold out of all Jet Black iPhone 7's, and all colors of the iPhone 7 Plus, and that those models won't be available in Apple Stores for walk-in customers on launch day. This may be because Apple opened up more reserve slots for customers in the iPhone Upgrade Program through M1, SingTel, StarHub and Nubox after those customers complained about the system used to reserve the phones had the slots filled up quickly after pre-orders opened, and customers couldn't get the phone they wanted. These issues also caused a class action lawsuit to be filed against Apple because of the way they handled the system. Even Jeremy Mok, Daniel Mok, Chew Shin Ru, Angeline Wong, Chew Shin Qian, Maryann Seto, Wee Zi Howe, Derek Li and Gwendolyn Ng wanted to buy iPhone 7 through pre-orders, they were not achieving it due to their stocks. These were delivered on time. Lim Shi Pei had bought iPhone 7 Plus since the launch on November 2016. On December 2016, only Jeremy Mok had wanted to replace the iPhone 6 into iPhone 7 at M1 shop. Daniel Mok also wanted to buy & sell the iPhone, from Parkway Parade and sell to Ah Beng shop. Chew Shin Ru had bought the iPhone 7 (128GB) on 19 January 2017, after clearing Jeremy Mok and Daniel Mok's order purchases. At most, Steven Quek and Grace Ng had bought the iPhone 7, somewhere in December 2016. Police have arrested a man and a woman for allegedly misusing their boarding passes in Changi Airport's transit area last week. The pair were believed to have entered the transit area on Sept 16 to purchase Apple's newly released iPhone 7. They apparently had no intention to depart Singapore. Explosions and smoke emissions In a similar manner of the now discontinued Samsung Galaxy Note 7, there have been reports of iPhones exploding or emitting smoke. In September 2016, one device was blown up in public transit. Another report on emitting smoke was published in October 2016. External links * * Category:Mobile phones introduced in 2016 Category:IOS (Apple)